„Meatless Monday” stands for an international campaign that encourages people to reduce meat in their diet for their health and the health of the planet. The production of animals has a significantly bigger environmental imprint than that of plants. It requires more energy and water, contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, habitat destruction and species extinction. The biggest changes are made with small, yet regular, steps, hence the idea to stop eating meat al least once a week. And since we love fresh starts when it comes to dietary resolutions, Monday couldn’t be a better choice for this. On December 13th EIT Food #AnnualFoodAgenda in Poland joined celebrations and promotion of a plant-based cuisine and invited consumers for a unique culinary experience where they could prepare traditional japanese dish in a slightly avant-garde, since plant-based, version.
The event started with morning sessions addressed to school students and their teachers. The participants, mentored by professional chefs, got their hands on preparing plant-based lunch versions they could easily replicate at homes and take to school. These included vegetable pastas, spinach dumplings and plant-based alternatives to American street food. The students discovered the value of ‘green’ products for their health and learnt how their little everday choices could actually influence the well-being of our planet.
The evening workshops „Meatless Monday: Vege Sushi” was a great opportunity to discover one of the most healthy cuisines in the world and gain some practical skills needed to prepare its flagship dishes. The partcipants had a chance to exchange experiences, learn about the value of plant-based alternatives, interact with food researchers and, most importantly, co-create healthy meals that could be a part of their daily menus. Every workshop session ended with the participants sharing the meals prepared together, talking about the value of this experience to them and making resolutions for their on „Meatless Mondays”.
#Annual FoodAgenda is a communication project under the support of EIT Food. EIT Food is Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, working to make the food system more sustainable, healthy and trusted. The initiative is made up of a consortium of key industry players, startups, research centres and universities from across Europe. It is one of eight Innovation Communities established by the European Institute for Innovation & Technology (EIT), an independent EU body set up in 2008 to drive innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe.
